Gardening in the Summer

The temperatures are now consistently in the 80-90+ degree range now, so the gardens are growing well. This season we are watering the garden with activated E.M. Activated E.M. means that regular E.M. has been mixed with water and molasses. We have been watering W.108 St., E. 111 St. and Morris Ave. from a watering can using 20 parts rain water and 1 part activated E.M. The gardens look good after using this. We continue to harvest and sow seeds. We have harvested sugar snap peas, arugula, collards, mint, chamomile, purple snap bush beans, kale, basil, mustard greens, turnips, kohlrabi, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. We planted some myrtle in the tree pit outside of W. 108 St. We restaked tomatoes and cucumbers to support the weight of the vine and fruit as the plants grow. Finally, a cat had 5 kittens in our tool shed at E. 111 St. We took some pictures.

                                         (Garlic planted last fall)

                                         (Cat and 5 kittens at the E. 111 St. site)

                                         (5 kittens)

                                         (Planter box on the roof deck at W. 108 St.)

                                         (Flower on the roof deck)

                                         (E. 111 St. garden)

                                         (A bed of marigolds)

                                         (A bed of collards)

                                         (Mostly tomatoes at the side of the building)

                                         (Purple snap bush beans)

                                         (Morris Ave.)

                                         (Cherry tomatoes)                                                   


 

                                                              - Rabbi Stacey Van Rossum

The month of June

The gardens are growing well. We harvested our entire arugula crop and pulled up all the garlic that we planted last fall. It amazes me that one clove of garlic becomes an entire head of garlic. We have begun harvesting other plants. So far we have harvested radishes, kale, collards, basil, mint, lettuce, mustard greens, radishes and oregano. We also continue to plant seeds and seedlings. We planted sugar snap peas, muskmelon, bachelor buttons, wildflower, calendula, marigold, cucumber seedlings, tomato seedlings, spicy green mustard, cantaloupe, corn, watermelon, peanuts and basil. We cut back the shrubs and trees in the front yard and back yard at both locations. We harvested the work worm bin for the 7th time and added the worm compost to the bed that we planted the spicy green mustard in. Our marigolds at E. 111 St. were growing well so we transplanted some of them to the front yard area. We visited the roof deck at W. 108 St. for the first time this year and we weeded the planter boxes and watered the plants using water from the rain water harvesting system that John C. helped us to build last year. We harvested mint and chamomile and made a tea which we drank at lunch. Finally, on a rainy day Jan brought in bagels, cream cheese, chives, thyme, cilantro and coffee. We ate this with sliced radishes, cucumbers and tomatoes. We are growing each of these vegetables and herbs at both sites so we wanted to sample what they each taste like. Season 2012 is going well.

                                         (Turnips)

                                         (Collards)

                                         (Johnny watering)

                                         (Tara and Jan)

                                         (Butterfly on a sunflower leaf)

                                         (E. 111 St. garden from far away)

                                         (Rabbi Stacey cutting up branches)

                                         (A days harvest of garlic, radishes and oregano)

                                        (A days harvest of collards, kale and mustard greens)

                                         (2 planter boxes of mint and shiso)

                                         (2 hostas and a shrub)

                                         (A shot of the roof deck)

                                         (Rain water harvesting system)                                         


                                                    - Rabbi Stacey

Garden Progress

Most of the seeds that were directly sown into the Earth are growing but to speed up the process we purchased many seedlings, mostly of plants we have had success with in the past. So we are assured of another productive gardening season. We purchased beefsteak tomato, big boi tomato, red plum tomato, jalapeno pepper, parsley, basil, eggplant, stevia, sweet pepper, lettuce and celery. We also purchased ornamental flowers for the front yards at both sites. We bought black-eyed Susan, impatiens, sweet potato vine, hosta, marigold, coral bells tick seed, hydrangea, rose and coleus. We continue our yearly tradition of planting 6 ft. and 10 ft. sunflowers around the entire perimeter of the garden. Birds and squirrels are often seen eating the sunflower seeds from the head of the sunflower. We harvested our home wormbin for the 6th time and are preparing the work wormbin to be harvested for the 7th time in approximately 2 weeks. We decided to cook some of the plants that we are growing this season for lunch to sample what they taste like. Natalie and Jan cooked okra, beets, asparagus, artichoke with a dipping sauce and Johhny cooked cinnamon rolls. Everything tasted good. As things continue to grow and the sun shines longer during the day we are watering the plants regularly and weeding more frequently. We bought red cedar mulch to help keep the weeds down. The first plant that was harvested this season was mesclun lettuce which we prepared in a salad with tomato, cucumber, olives, Italian dressing, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar. It tasted good. The garden is progressing well. Goodbye.



                                             -Rabbi Stacey Van Rossum

                                         (Rose)

                                         (Hydrangea)

                                         (Hydrangea between 2 dogwoods)

                                         (Barley)

                                         (Chamomile)

                                         (Mint)

                                         (The garden from far away)

                                         (Rabbi Stacey planting celery)

                                         (Rabbi Stacey at work)

                                         (Stevia)

                                         (Johhny holding garlic planted last Fall)

The sower sows seeds

                                         (Lettuce)

                                          (Purple dove snap bush beans)

                                         (Collards)

                                         (Figs)

                                         (Rabbi Stacey in front of fig tree)

                                                   (Variegated dogwood)

                                         (Peaches)

                                         (Asparagus crowns)

                                         (Workers in the garden)

                                         (Barley)

                                         (Collard seedlings)

                                         (Rosemary seedling)

(Lavender)

                                         (Pepper seedlings)
As the temperature warms up we begin to direct sow seeds into the Earth. So far we have planted lettuce, carrots, beets, kale, collards, radishes, arugula, Swiss chard, purple dove snap bush beans, wheat, barley, amaranth, okra, marigold, sunflower, mixed sunflower, Mexican sunflower, parsley, stevia, English thyme, sage, squash, fennel, cilantro, chives, tarragon, eggplant, bunching onions, tomato, sorrel and cucumber directly into the soil. Some of these we have had success with in previous seasons and some are new plants that we have never tried before. We purchased and planted collards, pepper and rosemary seedlings. Some of the seeds that we started indoors in a seed starter kit grew and we planted the cantaloupe seedlings outdoors, a few have died but some have survived so far in the Earth. The delivery of soil came to Morris Ave. so we added a new layer of topsoil to the garden. We planted some flowers in the front yard at Morris Ave. We planted daisy, alyssum, forget-me-not, and bachelor buttons. With enough water, sunlight and plant maintenance like weeding we will have another successful year at My Urban Farm.



                                                                             -Rabbi Stacey Van Rossum

Season 2012

                                          (Morning picture of the sky as the sun rises)

                                          (From our trip to the Central Park Zoo)

                                           (From our trip to the Central Park Zoo)

                                           (From our trip to the Central Park Zoo)

                                           (Tulips)

                                           (Cantaloupe growing)

                                           (Magnolia trees in bloom)

We had our first meeting on 3/16 to begin making plans for Season 2012. The soil at both sites have been turned over once and a delivery of 1/2 ton (1000 lbs.) of topsoil is expected for Morris Ave. We planted, tomato, pepper, cucumber and cantaloupe in seed starter kits. The cantaloupe is already growing. Seeds have already been purchased and we are trying several new plants and different varieties of plants this season. Some new plants include okra, rhubarb and artichoke. There is still talk of building a greenhouse and talk of buying chickens. At E. 111 St. we tested the soil for Potash (K), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P) and also the PH level was tested. The magnolia trees are blooming and the tulips have sprouted flowers. The weather is warming up and My Urban Farm is beginning to get back to work.



                                                                                       -Rabbi Stacey

The Season is over

The season is officially over. We had our last day of work last Monday. We were able to harvest greens like Swiss chard and kale and also kohlrabi until the very last day. I went to the Morris Ave. site today to feed the worms in the wormbin and when I looked outside in the garden there were still healthy chard and kale leaves. If they survive the winter and are still there in the Spring it would not be a surprise. In the past we have had kale that survived the snow of Winter and the rain of early Spring that was still edible when I picked them. This year we planted oat as a cover crop at Morris Ave. and I planted spelt in late November that should be ready in the Spring. The spelt was about 2-3 inches tall on our last work day. I have purchased barley and wheat seeds that I am going to plant in the Spring at Morris Ave. Much garlic has been planted at both sites and are growing. We took a trip to the Central Park Zoo and were able to see some animals there. There has been talk of building a greenhouse for use in the Spring. That would be both useful and convenient. The plan is to meet in late February to start making plans for Season 2012. I will continue to feed and maintain both the work wormbin and my home wormbin during the Winter. Once again it was another successful season of gardening and I look forward to Season 2012.



                                         - Rabbi Stacey